The Brothers Wilder
by Ark Navy
Summary: For Zelos and Lloyd Wilder, life is good. But as the events of Symphonia come crashing down on them, can they lead their ragtag group to salvation without losing each other, or will the bonds of brotherhood be broken in their fight to save a dying world?
1. The Brothers Wilder

**The Brothers Wilder**

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**Summary:** After a horrible tragedy gave way to a new friendship, a young Zelos Wilder takes Lloyd under his wing. Now, twelve years later, they're Meltokio's wildest, and naughtiest, boys around and life is good. But as the events on Symphonia come crashing down on them, can they lead their ragtag group to salvation without losing each other, or will the bonds of brotherhood be broken in their struggle to save the dying worlds?

**Spoilers**: This will start from when one first enters Tethe'alla and WILL CONTINUE TO THE END. Read at your own risk of spoilers.

**A/N**: Finally! The day has come! It's been over a year and a half since this story first blossomed in theory. Now it is my pleasure to introduce to you, the long awaited, long anticipated twist in the fabrics of time…

I present… The Brothers Wilder.

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"Dammit," he cursed, looking around his messy room. Clothes had been scattered around the room, covering almost every inch of the floor, while every drawer and closet door had been flung open and hastily emptied of their contents. He looked at the clock, then back at the floor. "I don't have time for this!"

He ran across the hall and into his brother's room, not even bothering to be quiet. Not like it mattered; Lloyd could sleep through anything. He threw open the closet and began to searching, "Boxers, shirt, sword, shirt… ah, pants!" he exclaimed, grabbing the articles from their hangar and slipping into them with great haste.

He shrugged quickly as he felt the differences in the fabric between this and what he was accustomed to wearing. He inserted each thumb in the pocket, slightly pulling at the cloth. He sighed, "A bit tighter than I'm used to, but it'll work."

By some miracle chance, Lloyd cracked on eye open, semi-conscious. "…Zelos," he asked groggily. "…what the hell are you doing in my pants?"

"Laundry's not done, and I'm out." He answered quickly, dashing to the door. "Of course, it's not like you're awake to hear me, anyway…"

Lloyd only snored loudly in response.

Zelos paused at the door, grinning devilishly. "You need to not snore." He said, grabbing a pair of dirty boxers from his brother's hamper and flung them onto Lloyd's face, effectively muffling the boy's booming snores. "Much better."

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With only minutes to spare before the late bell rang, Zelos flung himself into his first period class, grinning boldly as always. It wasn't long, however, until he found himself under attack by several of the girls in his class.

"Zelos," one of them pouted, "Where were you this morning? I was waiting for you right where you said you'd meet me, but _you_ never showed up!"

"Here." Another thrust a stack of papers into his hands. "I took notes for you on yesterday's lecture. Do you want me to take some more today, too?"

A third butted in before he could answer. "Say, where's your brother? I haven't seen him for quite some time…" she then added in a low voice, "He promised me a date…"

He grinned slyly, answering them all in one smooth sentence. "I had a wardrobe malfunction; thank you, I'd love it if you would; and Lloyd's dead to the world."

"He's_ ASLEEP_?!" she shrieked.

"But not to worry," he reassured her, his dazzling charisma working wonders on them all. "I'll gladly fulfill my lazy brother's slacking and make it up to you."

The girl's eyes glittered as she beamed, "Really? You promise?"

Cutting their conversation short, the chemistry teacher, known best as Mr. What's-His-Face by the brothers, entered the classroom, shutting the door behind him. "Quiet down and take your seats, class." He said in his trademark dull, monotonous tone. "We have a lot to do today…"

Leaving the girl's question unanswered, he hopped over the desks until he reached his spot by the window. He sat down hastily, a cocky smirk still playing on his features. Sure, it was chemistry class—ironically his least favorite course—but he couldn't seem to shake the feeling that someone, Lloyd, was up to no good. The two had grown to work like that: good at getting into each others' heads—as well as girls' pants.

Although, as much as he hated to admit it, he and Lloyd were always at war with one another over various issues—most of them frivolous, but neither would pass up an opportunity to beat the living daylights out of the other. The frustrating thing about their warfare, however, was the fact that neither of them ever seemed to win for long. When it came down to it, everything between them always ended in a draw, even when it came to the opinions of others.

Zelos was loved—as the older of the two—for his flirty, playboy demeanor and his alluring maturity. Lloyd, on the other hand, was coveted for his carefree attitude and his cute, boyish charm.

And then even in their scuffles, everything evened out: Lloyd would win in the broad sense of it, but he always came away with more cuts and bruises. Then, to make up for his loss of face, Zelos used psychological tactics to mess with his brother's head, often leading the boy to somehow publically humiliate himself seemingly without any outside help. Zelos would always brush it off to others, laughing, "They say pride comes before the fall."

All in all, though, they were the best of comrades.

He tilted back in his chair, his eyes glazing as the teacher begun his lecture on the various bonds between elements. Zelos skimmed over the notes from yesterday's sermon with little interest. He never completely understood why they needed to learn this stuff, anyway. As far as he was concerned, the only chemistry in life was the love kind—it didn't have acids and things tinier than the head of a pin.

Something outside caught his eye; he looked outside distractedly and noticed a brilliant flash in western sky. He frowned, straining to get a better look. It appeared to be some crazy tear in the dimension—physics: something he could better grasp—wavering and fluctuating before swallowing itself and disappearing without a trace. He blinked in disbelief; it was gone.

Faintly, very distantly, he could pick out the excited yapping of Noishe, and the dog was only permitted to bark as continuously as this when Lloyd took him out.

Unknown to Zelos, while he was engulfed in his realm of thoughts, he had subconsciously risen from his seat and was leaning into the window. The entire class was silent.

"…Wilder? …_Mr. Wilder_!"

"Huh?!" Zelos replied, snapping back to reality.

"I'd appreciate if you would take your seat like the rest of the class." The teacher instructed, adding in a low chiding tone, "And stay there."

He nodded absentmindedly, "Yeaah…" he said, finally prying his eyes from window. "Say, may I go to the restroom?"

"You may _take your seat_, Mr. Wi—"

"Great, thanks!" he said, dashing from the classroom and exiting the building within seconds. As he rushed back to the mansion to see what was abuzz, he couldn't help but think guiltily in the back of his mind how this could damage the public image he needed to keep as the Chosen of Mana—running off, skipping school, fighting monsters out in the middle of nowhere with his drop-out brother…

…But then again, he mused, I'm only eighteen, not even of age yet. I've got two more good years to screw around before I'm no longer considered the responsibility of the Mansion staff.

He then realized with a cold pang as he ran on, that with his fate sealed as it were, two years might even be asking too much.

Rounding the corner with great haste, Zelos slowed as the Mansion came into sight, and outside its thick, mahogany doors stood a brown haired boy dressed in his usual white and red outfit with splotches of royal blue and gold, taming a beast of green and white. Noishe looked anxious and more than ready to get a move on, and made sure that Lloyd knew of his eagerness by boisterously reminding him. However, when the doggish creature caught whiff of Zelos, he bolted from Lloyd's side.

The Chosen greeted the rampaging Noishe with a rough, but playful, head fur tousle as he looked to his brother and asked, "You see it too?"

Lloyd laughed. "Hell yeah I did." He tossed him a jeweled sword. "Here—swiped it when Sebastian wasn't looking. Look's like the light show came from the top of the Fooji Mountains. Let's go already!"

Zelos laughed, smirking deviously. "You go on ahead via dog-back. I think I'll travel more… first class."

Shrugging, he mounted the protozoan, saying as they dashed ahead, "You were always the frilly one."

As the older of the brothers hurried into the mansion and through its winding corridors, he noted that he'd have to put Lloyd back in his place for that comment later. Though it wasn't so that he didn't appreciate Noishe's services, he merely figured, "Why run when you can soar?"

Within no time, he found himself on flat space on the roof of the Wilder Mansion, never pausing to take in the beautiful view of the bustling city around him; he had a race to win. He quickly rushed to the edge of the outcrop, running his gloved fingers over the rugged brick surface until he recognized the hollow feeling of the faux stone he had installed only a few years earlier. He hastily punched it inward until he heard a soft _click_.

Grinning from ear to ear, he turned to see a large square area of the base lower and withdraw from sight as another slowly rose to take its place. Atop this new platform rode one of his most prized possessions: a sky blue Rheaird.

As he hopped onto the machine, setting all its motors and engines a buzz, he still couldn't quite remember how he'd come to acquire this beauty of a contraption. He remembered that he had gotten it as the result of an exchange of promises—or as it was more commonly known as, a _bribe_—with some odd looking folks in Sybak when he was fourteen. He had originally accompanied Lloyd there to take the Entrance Exams—which, of course, Lloyd managed to expertly bomb—but naturally the allotted three hours was a long time for him to simply sit and wait. So, avoiding the watch of the guards who were required to accompany him until he was sixteen, he slipped out of the waiting vicinity and out onto the streets of the nerdy city. Zelos hadn't gotten far when he was pulled aside into an alley by a duo of abnormally dressed fellows.

"Chosen of Mana, our Lord wishes a word with you." One of them had said, before they shone with mystical glow and he was whisked off some place that was beyond imagination.

Zelos' memory was fuzzy about whatever went on during that time, but when all was over, he was fourteen with a new kickass toy. He couldn't have cared less.

Once the mechanism purred beneath him, he twisted the handles violently, pressed his feet against the pedals and sped off over the horizon with the roar of the engine still in his wake.

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Lloyd hadn't the chance to travel far outside of the city's proximity before he heard the roar of a Rheaird not too far behind him. He laughed lightly upon hearing it, turning slightly so that he could see as his brother swiftly approached them with the engines dying down back to its gentle purr as Zelos slowed to keep pace with them.

"You must really be a wuss," Lloyd laughed, rolling his eyes. "Breaking out the Thing for a small trip to the Fooji Mountains? _Come on_." He laughed again, but shortly before he felt Zelos' foot forcefully throw him from Noishe's back and onto his own on the ground. The protozoan stopped and backtracked to sniff his younger master's face. He was used to these sorts of antics.

It was Zelos' turn to laugh as he swerved the Rheaird around to a stop ahead of the other two. "Whoops! Sorry, didn't see ya there, shortie!"

Growling, Lloyd picked himself up off the ground, not even bothering to wipe the dirt from his formerly pristine white clothing. Noishe whined quietly and stepped back before plopping down in the grassy area nearby, but far enough to be out of their striking distance.

He jumped up and seemingly tactlessly began to charge at his brother, but halted and instead withdrew his swords with an eager grin. He slightly turned his head to the left as he ran his thumb over his nose in a quick motion, then held up three fingers and nodded. His brother reflected his grin and gave a stiff nod back.

Lloyd treaded through the dirt soundlessly as he continued on his path towards Zelos, who stood completely still even as Lloyd leapt into the air and hovered just above him. At the last possible second, Zelos peeled to his left and unsheathed his sword in one fluid motion as Lloyd came down next to him. Their swords met at his backswing and rang out as their only warning before they both landed solidly on the ground, in front of them three wild wolves slaughtered by their blades.

Forgetting their qualm, the two kept their weapons at bay while their smiles grew ever larger.

"Another perfect execution…" Lloyd stated proudly. "Damn, it's just not fun when they don't put up a fight."

"You mean when they can't put up a fight?" scoffed Zelos. "Face it: we've killed off all the strong creatures in this area. If you want a challenge, you gotta leave. Simple as that."

"Then let's leave." He suggested with great enthusiasm. "We can ditch that stuffy old city in search of bigger and better things! You in?"

Zelos smirked outwardly, but muttered under his breath, "Easy for you to say."

After whistling for Noishe, who moseyed half-heartedly out of the plush grass under the afternoon sun, Lloyd looked back to his brother. "Whaddya say?"

He regained his poise on the spot and flashed his normal cocky grin and looked ahead. "I say we head on out to Fooji and see what the hell was with that freak light show. If I'm right, we might even be dealing with some sort of dimensional rift!"

"A dimensional rift?" repeated Lloyd skeptically. "Zelos, you're an idiot. If there was really another world staring us in the face like they say, then why can't we see it, hear it or _smell_ it?"

For the first time in a long time, he was speechless as it his little brother's logic. Zelos knew the boy had taken one too many knocks to the head—which were mostly Zelos' fault anyway, he would definitely own up to that—but sometimes he felt as if talking to a walking wall. Finally, he sighed, admitting with great sarcasm, "You know what, Lloyd? You must be some sort of genius."

He nodded, "I know."

Zelos shook his head in bewilderment as he revved up the Rheaird and sped off over the horizon. Lloyd took off atop Noishe's back, beaming triumphantly. "Dimensional rift, my ass." He scoffed. "Even if there is another world out there, it's not like Meltokio would offer them any help anyway—they're too damn pompous. Stupid people,"

After a moment's pause, he laughed, saying. "What's it matter?—there's not another world." He looked ahead, calling, "Hey, Zelos! Wait up!"

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**Post-note**: And so concludes the first chapter. Please note that until _Sealed Fates_ is done, this fic will not get top updating priority, so until then, updates will not be quick, to say the least.

_Please_ review with some comments/feedback/etc.!


	2. Mt Fooji: Day

**The Brothers Wilder**

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**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews, guys. And I'm incredibly sorry about the extremely long wait. I won't let it happen again. …As a post note though, this chapter turned out to get so lengthy, what I meant to have as part of this chapter will have to be pushed back to chapter three. Wow!

Also, a huge thanks goes out to doragon no mizu for ghost writing a big chunk of this! :)

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The duo reached the base of the mountain within minutes. Lloyd dismounted the panting Noishe, stroking him and scratching him behind the ear. "Good boy, Noishe. Good boy."

"Yup." Zelos agreed distractedly as he pressed a multitude of buttons on the Thing before it eventually shrank. "He made it the whole way this time. Good thing you have him because I doubt you could haul your own lazy ass all the way out here."

"You're the one riding around on a safety insured, properly cushioned work of magitechnology." Lloyd shot back.

Zelos just laughed. "Lloyd, you couldn't tell magitechnology from a rock."

"They're the things that make light! I know just what the hell they are!"

"Yeah, yeah, we'll see." Zelos said, rolling his eyes.

Lloyd 'hmph'ed, eyeing the rigid path ahead of them as he absently fiddled with the dog's coat. His eyes lit up as he saw light smoke slithering upward from the top of the mountain. He knew for a fact that Mt. Fooji was not a volcano—despite the scare tactics his brother had employed years ago—so it had to be a product of whatever had occurred. Something was up there.

Zelos narrowed his eyes in concentration as he pocketed the Thing and visually assessed and calculated the best way to get up the jagged rock. "This would probably be easier if we just l—"

"Fuck you!" Lloyd laughed as he darted ahead to the nearest worn path. Noishe whined loudly, looking pleadingly to Zelos' as if to ask him not to go. The Chosen wouldn't listen, but he got a pat on the head in consolation.

"Hey! Lloyd!" He shouted as he took off after him just as recklessly. "That path doesn't lead to the top!"

"Any path leads to the top if you want it to!"

Determined laughs rang through the air along with the clattering of gravel being kicked around and falling down the sloping sides. Lloyd pulled himself over a particularly steep ledge with relative ease, his azure exsphere glimmering in the afternoon sun. "Zelos, you better hurry up unless you _want_ to get your ass handed to you!" He called as he triumphantly stood ledges over his older brother.

Zelos made no response as he kept running, but to himself he smirked and muttered, "Pride always comes before the fall…"

He awaited a comeback, but when his brother said nothing, Lloyd shrugged and turned to run once again. "Whatever, man!"

As soon as Lloyd had turned his back, Zelos skidded to a halt in the dirt trodden path, stirring up the dust around him. He closed his eyes and began to flick one wrist, conducting the mana around him. He opened his eyes briefly to track his younger brother. "_Stone Blast_!"

Lloyd startled as the earth in the ledge above him rumbled and began to fall all around him. He withdrew his blades without a moment's hesitation and adeptly sliced through the crumbling stone around him, occasionally batting a few away. He looked back at his brother once the rain had hit a standstill with an eye for revenge, "Oh, you—" he stopped. Behind Zelos, who stood frozen in spell-shock, loomed a chimera, fangs bared and oozing ravenously. His mind flashed with the idea of letting the monster get his revenge for him, slowing his brother down even more.

He shook his head, banishing the idea from his mind as he caught sight of a straggling rock falling in his direction. "Zelos, heads up!" he called, swinging the blunt side of his blade through the stone, sending it flying towards his brother.

With visible effort, Zelos managed to drag himself out of the spell-shock and ducked his head down as the stone fragment whizzed by just above him, smacking the monster behind him. He quickly turned to face the enraged beast. "You just had to get in my way…! Light Spear!" He called, severing one of the creature's heads. His attack finished, and the monster debilitated enough to escape, he hit the ground running.

Lloyd continued hastily down the rugged path. Turning the corner around a ledge, he cursed loudly as he slid to a halt in the dust. His brother had been right; he hit a dead end. He turned on his heel, wildly searching for another way to the top. He took antsy, jumpy steps left and right before finally jumping back and hurling himself onto the rocky wall. Determinedly, he began to climb.

Zelos made his way on the rather paved path with relative ease. Up the mountain side it zigged and zagged like it had been carved in. He hadn't seen or heard any signs of his brother for a while now, but it didn't come as a surprise to him. The thick-skulled kid had probably realized by now that that path led to a dead end and was probably hurrying to make up the lost ground, he figured.

Ahead, he noticed a more narrow, less worn path trickling off the side of the road. As it turned a corner, the path seemed to darken down the road as it was covered with an ominous shade. He hesitated, wondering why they had never gone down that path before—it certainly wasn't familiar to him. If it turned out to be like the other smaller paths, a great treasure awaited him at the road's end, and the allure clearly tempted him. But something about the trail sent a chill through his mind.

In the back of his conscious, he also found himself anxious about the distant chance that taking such a shady trail could lead to something that could possibly trap him, kill him. And if that happened, what would become of his brother, alone on Mt. Fooji?

He shivered; he did not want to think about that.

Zelos then continued up the mountainside trail without a second thought. He slowed after a minute or so as the summit became nearer and nearer and still his brother was nowhere to be seen or heard. Looking ahead, four small plumes of smoke slithered into the sky and he could see what looked to be sizeable debris littering the earth. Amongst it, one figure stood, and immediately Zelos froze.

The figure knelt, placing a hand on a pile with stoic care. Upon closer inspection, Zelos realized the pile to be another human. The figure stood once more, and turned its head slightly to look over its shoulder. Zelos had been spotted.

The figure, a man, turned to face him, almost gliding in his steps as he strode forward with his cloak catching in the gales of the summit. "Chosen of Mana, what are you doing here?" he asked, his voice cold and curt.

Zelos eyed him warily; he had seen this man somewhere before. Finally, he spat, "None of your business."

"Actually, it _is_ my business." he replied smoothly and without a pause. "I hope you haven't forgotten your promise."

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about." Zelos responded bluntly.

Panting, Noishe turned the corner to see the two of them and began barking ferociously. He lowered his front and his ears pointed backward; his pristine canines were barred and his barks became interrupted with wild snarls.

"Hey, Noishe. Stand down!" Zelos commanded, inwardly perplexed at his sudden change in behavior. Noishe carried on indignantly, his barks like severed roars.

Noticeably hurried, Lloyd appeared over a ledge on the opposite side of the summit. He wasted no time in pulling himself to his feet and withdrawing his swords. The man looked from the ravenous protozoan to Lloyd with a sudden restrained intrigue. "Boy, what's your name?"

Lloyd narrowed his eyes, tightening his grip on the hilts of his swords. He knew that Noishe never barked at anyone without a good reason; what's more, Lloyd didn't exactly have a good feeling about the man, either. "Give me your name, and I'll give you mine,"

"My name is of no importance to you,"

"Then I suppose mine isn't very important to you eithe—"

"Lloyd Aurion." He enunciated perfectly, closing eyeing him as if to gage his reaction. Lloyd remained crossly silent, attempting to suppress his mild shock and the man took a few more steps towards him until they looked each other eye-to-eye. The man's emerald eyes scrutinized him intently and he flashed a small smirk. "…I can see the resemblance."

At this, Lloyd took action. He stepped forward, attempting to slice their interloper who jumped backward out of range in an instant. "Chosen," he said, "Do not forget your word." With that, he became engulfed in light and vanished in a second.

Lloyd lowered his blades as Noishe's barks diminished to whines and then to soft pants. For a moment he was quiet, pensive and disbelieving of the man's words. Finally, he spoke without tearing his gaze from the mess ahead. "Zelos, who the hell was that guy?"

Zelos paused. The same thought was running through his head. "I dunno, bud." He stated distantly before shaking his head clear of the matter. "Whatever, doesn't matter. Let's see what all this is about."

Lloyd agreed, putting away his swords. He walked over to crash site and began examining.

His brother lingered longer around the smoking vehicles, noticing their distinct familiarities with the Thing. They had to be the same sort of contraption, but where could they have come from?

"_Holy_ crap!" he heard Lloyd exclaim in bewilderment. Zelos listened for more to follow but when his brother remained silent he turned around and looked to where Lloyd stood gawking at something on the ground.

"What're you looking a—" he began as he walked over curiously. When he saw, his eyes grew wide and he echoed, "_Holy_ crap!"

For a moment, both boys stood with their mouths hanging. Traces of drool could be seen at the tips of Lloyd's mouth. "They're huge…" he uttered.

The object of the brothers' ogling was in fact not an object but another human. A woman. A woman of different descent with raven hair and wearing clothes they had only seen in their history books. Although, none of the former mattered, as all the brothers could focus on were her wonderfully large… gifts.

"…Touch 'em," Zelos said. "See if they're real."

"Oh you don't have to dare me…" Lloyd said, reaching his hand forward before retracting it. "Wait, what do you mean see if they're real?"

Zelos hid the shame in his eyes with his hand, hanging his head. "You have got to be kid…"

"—what are they if they're not real? Does that make them imaginary?" Lloyd went on. He then gasped, "…_Balloons_?!"

His older brother looked ready to disown him. "You know what, just never mind. Never mind, Lloyd."

"—if you popped them?! What would happen?"

"Lloyd, you're an idiot." Zelos sighed. "Just forget about it for now. I'll tell you when you get older. Until then, let's get any survivors away from these Things. They look like they could explode at any moment."

Lloyd crossed his arms over his chest. "Hmph." He then quickly moved to take care of the raven-haired woman. "I'll get—"

But Zelos staved him off with one arm. "Uh-uh, bud. I don't think so," He shot quickly. "I've got seniority."

--

"…'Sylvarant', huh? Looks like those crack-pot theorists were right," Zelos stated, peering over towards the blonde stationed to his far left. She sat unblinking, stiff as a rod; her blue wings gave off a soft glow against the darkness of the night. "Angel, come on now. I bet you'd be as cute as a button if you smiled!"

"She can't hear you." A boy with silver hair and blue garmits muttered softly as he absently poked their crackling fire with a stick.

Zelos did not respond, instead he gazed up at the starry sky overhead and sighed. Lloyd had been gone for quite a while now. He had run off in the late afternoon to grab something to eat for everyone, leaving Zelos to watch over the four then unconscious survivors of the crash. Three of them had awoken: an older sliver haired woman, identified as 'Raine', then the young winged blonde, who he was told by Raine was called 'Colette', and lastly an even younger silver haired boy named 'Genis'. Raine and Genis were siblings, he was told. But he waited to hear the rest of their story once Lloyd got back so they wouldn't have to tell the extensive tale more than once—of course, they would likely end up having to collectively tell it over three times. His brother needed things to be repeated. Many times.

What's more, he was started to become more concerned as the last member of the strange group—'Sheena', who actually hailed from Tethe'alla—had yet to awaken.

The sun had set not too long ago, cloaking the surrounding area in layers of darkness and allowing the chilly air to settle. Luckily they were able to contend both with a strongly blazing bonfire built on the center of the summit. Zelos figured they'd end up camping the night atop Mt. Fooji before leading the group back to Meltokio the next day. Also to their good fortune, there wasn't a cloud in the sky and they had a dazzling view of the stars and glowing moon.

Bored with the growing silence between them, Zelos stretched his arms behind his head, directing his gaze towards Sheena. "So, we've got the Unconscious Goddess over there," he looked in Colette's direction, "The Cute Mute Angel," he looked to Genis, "The… uhh… hm," He finally looked to Raine, "and the Sensual Maiden, eh? Am I missing anyone?"

Raine shook her head, "While I don't fully approve of your nicknames for everyone, I don't think you've shared with us _your_ name,"

Zelos became wide eyed, clearly shocked and taken aback. "You… don't know me? My, my…" He stood up with a grand smile. "I am the Great Zelos Wilder, Chosen of Mana, Savior to Tethe'alla, Bringer of Salvation, and all that good stuff. But you can just call me 'Mr. Zelos'."

Genis looked up from the fire with clear interest. "_You're_ the Chosen of Tethe'alla?"

"Yup, yup. That's me, alright," he said, a hint of unnoticed bitterness tingeing his charm. Looking around, he saw the raven haired woman sitting up drowsily with a hand to her head. He beamed, "Looks like Sleeping Beauty over there has finally awakened."

Raine walked over to Sheena, he trailed behind her. "Sheena, are you alright? You've been out for quite a while." Raine told her. "Are you injured at all?"

She just kept massaging her temples, eyes closed. "My head just hurts, that's all…" she mumbled. "I'll be fine."

"You could have a concussion," Raine said, "Allow me to help."

Without another word, she began to cast, green mana swirling around her. Within a moment, the spell dispersed and Raine reopened her eyes. "How do you feel now?"

Zelos frowned, taking a small step back from the two. He eyed the silver haired woman skeptically, scrutinizing over her every feature searching for any sort of clue that could give her away. From the limited information they had been given—and even more limited since he had never cared to remember it anyway—he knew that the world they supposedly came from was far less technologically advanced than Tethe'alla, perhaps on the level of Ozette and other backcountry parishes. While he could cast spells, it was only because of an injection of elven blood he had been given at some point in his life, when exactly he couldn't point out; the technology was entirely new to all of Tethe'alla and still had yet to gain any recognition.

With that in mind, the fact that she could manipulate mana so easily and without a second thought perturbed him into thinking there was something she was trying to hide—and he didn't blame her for it. But that didn't mean he had any sympathy for her, either.

He wouldn't jump into hasty conclusions, although he kept alert for any more suspicious evidence.

"A lot better," Sheena answered, dazedly rising to her feet. "Thank you. …Where are we, anyway?"

"Well shouldn't _you_ know, beautiful?" Zelos asked, stepping forward with a coy smirk. "After all, you are from Tethe'alla, aren't you?"

She turned her head to gaze spitefully at him. "I am."

He closed the distance between them, slyly grinning. "So am I. And I've seen every gorgeous girl Tethe'alla has to offer, and yet you have somehow evaded me." His eyes ran up and down the curves of her body. "Maybe as a courtesy for, y'know, savin' your guys' life and all, you could repay me with a—"

"No." She answered firmly, coldly as she brushed past him. But he only turned with her.

"No? Oh, hunny, you don't know—"

She spun around in a whirl. "No, I _do_ know." She stated with an edge. "Just because you're the Chosen One, you think—"

Sheena halted. A large wolf-ish creature had rounded the corner to the peak. Raine, Genis and Colette immediately jumped to their feet and stood prepared to battle. The creature set down the large bag it carried in its fearsome jaws and yowled.

"Hahah, relax. This thing'd more likely lick ya to death than ever attack you." Zelos laughed, "That's just Noishe. He's my bro's, erm…, dog, I guess." He scratched his head, having never extensively thought the issue over. "Whatcha got there, mutt?"

With clear shock and skepticism, the Sage siblings slowly took their seat again, Colette plopped down mindlessly and Sheena remained standing, still wary of the giant protozoan. Noishe took hold of the bag again and lugged it over near the fire. He dropped it on the ground and poked around inside of it with his massive snout and seconds later pulled out a gigantic bone basted in some sort of brown sauce. Content with his dinner, he trotted off away from everyone else.

"That's odd, there's usually a kid that comes with the giant dog…" Zelos remarked. "Oh well. Let's see what the canine catering service brought for dinner."

He walked over and reached into the bag, withdrawing first a loaf of bread followed by other sandwich ingredients. "Sandwiches?" he speculated. He then added with a shrug, "Bud, you could've done better… then again, you also could have done worse…"

He turned to face everyone else, "Sandwiches, you guys know what they are, right?"

Sheena and Raine glared daggers at him; Raine voiced their unanimous thought. "We're from a parallel world, not a third world country."

"Aren't they the same thing…?" he muttered under his breath before flashing them a friendly smile. "Right, right. My bad! Then—"

Before he could continue, a gloved hand appeared over the opposite ledge, followed by another, and finally a body clad in dusty white outfit hauled itself over the cliff. He huffed heavily. "Hey, Zelos…" he panted, "Have you… seen Noishe? He's… got the food."

Zelos gaped. "Did you just…" he sighed, shaking his head. "For Martel's sake, Lloyd, _Noishe_ is smarter than you."

The dog could be heard whining in disgruntlement at the uncalled-for insult to his intelligence.

"H-huh? Whaddya mean?" he sputtered. He looked at the large bag his brother was dealing with and asked in disbelief, "Whuzsat?"

"The food," he answered with a smirk. "Now get off your fat ass, our company is conscious this time."

In response, Lloyd scrambled to his feet, laughing rather sheepishly. "Hey, I'm Lloyd. Lloyd Wilder." He stated. "Who're you guys?"

Before they could respond, his brother again interrupted. "Lloyd, shut up already." He laughed. "Let 'em get somethin' to eat before interrogatin' 'em! They've still got their whole story to tell us, anyway."


End file.
